Metro Transit

Metro Transit’s 11-mile Green Line light rail system running from downtown St. Paul to downtown Minneapolis begins service exactly one month from today on June 14. The route promises greater access throughout for the Twin Cities and metro area suburbs.

A dozen people are out of the hospital following an incident Tuesday night in downtown Minneapolis where a bus ran into a pedestrian and a traffic pole, causing several bus passengers to suffer minor injuries due to the abrupt stop.

The forthcoming commuter line connecting the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul via light rail train is likely scheduled to run 24 hours a day, every day. The Green Line was originally set to run only from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily, with a four-hour gap on the overnights.

Metro Transit police, St. Paul police and fire and Rail Operations are taking part in an emergency drill for St. Paul’s downtown Light Rail Sunday afternoon. The drill will go from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of University Avenue and Raymond Avenue.

Commuters taking light-rail trains to and from downtown Minneapolis this weekend will be hopping on a bus for a portion of their trip, according to Metro Transit officials. The Blue Line, formerly called the Hiawatha Line, will undergo scheduled maintenance from Friday at 7:30 p.m. till Monday at 3:30 a.m. between the Target Field and Franklin Avenue stations.

Snow has caused a light-rail train to derail during operator training in downtown St. Paul. A Metro Transit spokesman says the lead car of a three-car train came off the Green Line tracks around 4 p.m. Wednesday after hitting snow from last week’s snowstorm.

If you rely on the Northstar Commuter Rail from Big Lake to Minneapolis, prepare for delays through the rest of the week. On Monday, the rail was running so late that Metro Transit put out the word to riders, recommending they try to find another way to work.

Three days after some of the worst driving conditions in recent memory, plenty of people were still late to work, but the roads weren’t the culprit. The Northstar Commuter Rail line was once again delayed for commuters coming in from the northwest, with Monday morning delays of 60 to 90 minutes reported.

An infant boy is unharmed after the car he was in was hit by a Northstar Commuter Rail line train in Elk River on Monday morning. According to Metro Transit officials, a car with a woman and infant inside sled onto train tracks at Proctor Avenue around 7 a.m. after the car came in to contact with another vehicle near the intersection. The woman was unable to move her car or retrieve her child, and exited before a northbound Northstar train hit the vehicle with the infant still inside.

Plans to relocate a federal government office in the Twin Cities have gone off track, and all because of a bus stop. Many people who need to go to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Bloomington wouldn’t be able to get there easily without public transportation. The office’s current location is just a block away from a bus stop, but the office is scheduled to move this fall. Even though the office is still in Bloomington, it is at least 3 miles away from a Metro Transit bus stop.

Authorities are investigating after a Maple Grove squad car was involved in an accident with a light rail train in downtown Minneapolis early Saturday morning. Metro Transit Police said the accident happened at about 1 a.m. Saturday near the station at 5th street and 5th Avenue in Minneapolis.

The man who was killed after walking train tracks northwest of the Twin Cities metro Monday afternoon and being struck by a Northstar Line train has been identified. According to the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office, 51-year-old Robert Borowick of Blaine, Minn. was walking just north of the intersection of 192nd Avenue and Zebulon Street.

Authorities said a 62-year-old Minneapolis man was killed Sunday night after being hit by a light rail train. John Siqveland with Metro Transit said the accident happened at about 6 p.m. Sunday near 42nd Street East and Hiawatha Avenue.

Officials said a mechanical issue has forced light rail transit to shut down in part of Minneapolis and commuters should expect significant delays Tuesday morning. Metro transit officials said the Blue Line of light rail transit had to be shut down at Lake Street.

Metro Transit and Miller Lite will provide free bus and light rail rides on New Year’s Eve for the third year in a row. From 6 p.m. till the last scheduled trip, residents will be treated to complimentary rides on all Metro Transit buses and light rail, METRO Blue and Red lines, Plymouth Metrolink, Anoka County and Minnesota Valley Transit Authority buses. Metro Transit officials say they have provided more than one million rides through the Miller Free Rides Program on New Year’s Eve, and for the last 16 years on St. Patrick’s Day.

The ongoing snow event keeps on putting a snarl in everyone’s Wednesday plans, and many are going to have to find alternatives for overnight parking, as well. Both Minneapolis and St. Paul have declared snow emergencies effective Wednesday at 9 p.m.

Adrieanne Simmons, a St. Paul woman who said she was repeatedly punched in the head by a bus driver, wants to know why he’s back on the job. Her bus driver was charged with misdemeanor assault, disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property in the October incident, but he’s back behind the wheel.